Garbage Truck Operator Kills Cyclist in Bushwick, Keeps Driving

Varick Avenue at the corner of Meserole Street, where a cyclist was killed last night. Photo: Google Street View

A garbage truck driver hit and killed a cyclist in Bushwick at around 8:50 p.m. last night. According to NYPD, the driver and the cyclist were both traveling on Varick Avenue, when the truck turned onto Meserole Street and struck the cyclist.

Police are still trying to identify the driver, who did not remain at the scene. According to NYPD, the driver was operating an unusually large private garbage truck, and the officer who fielded our call speculated that the driver may not have even noticed he struck the cyclist. NYPD has not decided whether to file charges.

NYPD said the cyclist has not been identified either. The Post reported that he was 51 years old, but family and friends in this post's comments section say he was 24.

Noah Kazis
joined Streetsblog as a New York City reporter at the start of 2010. When he was a kid, he collected subway paraphernalia in a Vignelli-map shoebox.

Even if they find the driver, everybody knows he won’t be touched. “I didn’t even see the guy!”

A livery driver used that line on me last week, even after he’d had to pull around me extra wide in order to cut me off.

We’re just videogame characters to them.

aliostuni

I’m very sorry for the victim and his family. These trucks are far too big to be operating in pedestrian and cyclist-rich environments. We need reasonable sized vehicles on our roads that have visibility and are appropriate to the environment in which they operate. Tour buses, garbage trucks, and 18-wheelers should be limited in the places and times that they operate at the very least. Or they should prohibited.

NM

Is there any reason a truck manufacturer couldn’t be sued just like any other product manufacturer for making a dangerous product that can’t be operated safely for its intended use? Riding around populated areas in a large metal box unable to see anything doesn’t sound like the best plan.

a Hells kitchen cyclist

i don’t know about here but in seattle garbage truck drivers are paid by the job, meaning the quicker they finish w/ trash the quicker their day is done which explains why they race to/from the dump

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/jqr Jonathan

To aliostuni’s point: the building on the SW corner of Varick Ave & Meserole St, 103 Meserole, is a Waste Management private garbage facility. Perhaps that explains what the truck was doing there.

J:Lai

that area in general is mostly industrial and has a lot of truck and commercial vehicle traffic. it also has very bad road surface in many places. if there is anywhere that you should expect to find large trucks in nyc, this is the place.
that’s not an excuse for a driver hitting and killing a cyclist, but you can’t really justify the knee jerk reaction that trucks shouldn’t be on the road in this area unless you are against sanitation.

David

Good point J:Lai. Alot of bike riders don’t comply with traffic rules, and at 8:45pm, at dusk, it could have been difficult for the truck driver to see him. Regardless of fault, this is a very sad incident and we all (drivers, bikers, pedestrians) need to pay attention and share the road better.

J:Lai

I ride through this area a lot, and there are a lot of drivers who treat it like the wild west. Especially in areas like this, you should always ride with lights after dark, and assume drivers are going to be reckless and/or oblivious.

jessica

he wasnt 51 years old he was 24 years old assholes they dont even kno what they are talking about he worked at union beer distributors and got promoted and everything and who ever hit him with that garbage truck needs to come forward thas fked up r.i.p tj from me to ur family.

jessica

r.i.p TJ gone but not forgotten from ur friends from ur job and my condolensces to ur family 24 yrs old only the good die young .

Folks here would appreciate any further accurate details you can provide about this tragic crash, while keeping the identity of the victim confidential out of respect. Thanks.

sj

The cyclist in question was by best friend’s youngest brother. Thank you for the post, police info has been sketchy and the family has been desperate for details. If anyone can post any futher info we would appriciated. The family is all from mid-west.

sj

The post also has the age wrong, he was 24.

sj

The post also has the age wrong, he would have been 25 on monday

AT

Yea i used to work wit him. RIP TJ!

unknown

respect would be getting the information right dont you think so they put a wrong age and everyone doesnt give a damn sorry but you know what hes a human being and my heart goes out to the family and there is no such thing as confidentiality when this person got hit and was a victim of a hit and run he needs to be remembered so im glad that someone actually posted who he was and his right age because then it would be to some people just another hit and run so im sorry but i have to disagree with u bicycles only

bob

It was a accident and the driver did not see him he came forward that night I am sorry for ur loss he just was at the wrong place at the wrong time

holga

They need to find the driver. There are cameras all over the block. All someone would need to do is review the footage of trucks driving down Mesorole around that time, get the company name, and get some answers.

dc

am sorry its one thing not to see him but not to feel the hit that’s bullshit!! any driver knows when u feel a hit u stop, it could be anything as little as the tires blew out, he was just trying to get away with it and then realized it would prob work better for him if he turned himself in… its sad cuz by him driving away may have caused tj his life.

http://opusthepoet.wordpress.com Opus the Poet

I used to drive a delivery truck, and I have friends that drive or drove big rigs, and it is entirely possible to hit a person and never even feel it. Given that one of my friends knocked down a cinder block building and never felt it (back tandem of the trailer hit the corner of a storage building right as he made the 1-2 shift) hitting a human being on a bicycle wouldn’t even register if not seen. Having said that, “I didn’t see him” is an admission of guilt, not an exculpatory excuse.

jayqwon

Tj was a good dude he touched a lot of ppl @ wrk man I’ve grown to accept his friendship n more. That was my dude rite there still can’t believe your gone love u boy its hard to even go to wrk n ur not there

jayqwon

And his birthday was monday and he juz got a new position at wrk(union beer)which he woulda started on monday. Miss u tj aka t-jizzle

Judd Schechtman

Agreed with the posts about the size and scale of trucks being inappropriate. The vehicles operated in NYC are designed for American roads and American suburban environments and do not make sense on our congested, narrow, hundred-year-old streets. I think this is especially true of our sirens, which are US style- i.e. they need to be heard 2 miles down the arterial highway in an enclosed Escalade with music blaring…and destroy everyone’s hearing in the city as a result. All over the rest of the urban world — Latin America, Europe and Asia, ALL of the vehicles are smaller, more nimble, and the sirens are quieter as well…

Jim Holt

Bravo, Judd, especially on the siren point. Emergency vehicles here are absurdly loud compared with their European counterparts, and this takes a toll on New Yorkers’ hearing and overall health. And has anyone noted the ridiculous over-response of fire trucks these days? According to the NY Times, there are half as many fires today as in 1970 but twice the number of responding trucks. That’s a fourfold increase in siren-noise per fire event.

http://www.livablestreets.com/people/jqr Jonathan

Jim, are you aware that firefighters are trained as medical first responders and respond (with lights and sirens) to medical emergencies?

Truck Accidents

Garbage truck driver hit and killed a cyclist. So Sad. Police has to identify that driver & get them into prison.

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